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Hello, yes I am experiencing the same feeling at the moment – a stabbing feeling in my heart and also my heart beat feels a bit irregular, rushed every now and again.
Re the pain, it feels like what I have had before when I knew it was caused by anxiety. So I am trying to reassure myself that it’s most likely just that. I know I’m anxious about not sleeping!
If you’ve already had it checked out by heart specialists, then it may reassure you to read Daniel Erichsen’s ‘Why we don’t sleep’, which I just bought for 99p from Kindle. It’s a very quick read and the foreward says ‘sleep deprivation does not cause brain damage, heart problems or early death’.
Thought I’d post on the forum because it helps me to write down what’s happening.
Last night I only got about 3 hours, having gone to bed at 11:30. Not my plan for a sleep window but I haven’t yet managed to resist going to bed when I’m falling asleep sitting up in living room. So no ‘better’ in terms of hours slept or succeeding at the sleep window.
BUT it was a lot better in that:
– I slept in my own bed not on the spare mattress, the couch, the floor… I’ve commited to my own bed now and am not trying to replace it with another place that I’m tossing and turning.
– When I couldn’t sleep I got up and sat on a chair I’ve set up in my bedroom and listened to an audio book (probably didn’t give these sessions enough of a chance because I got back in bed pretty quickly and still couldn’t sleep)
– most of all, I didn’t panic in bed when I realised that sleep wasn’t coming any time soon. I didn’t get angry at myself and fearful of the bed. This is the biggest win from last night.Today I have managed to do some things that I’ve put off through feeling too tired — going shopping for plants and potting them up. This made me think there are a lot of things I used to enjoy which I’ve stopped doing, so I’m going to write a list of them.
Not well! Finding it hard to stick to sleep restriction and I’ve lost my calm at not sleeping well. Been keeping a sleep diary over 10 days and the only 2 days which have been good are when I napped during the day and also drank alcohol, so I’m drawing the conclusion (probably wrongly) that I should do that every day. Also wondering if I even have a sleep drive! Last night I lay awake in bed or on the couch from 10pm to 5am, finally gave up and got up properly at 5. Lay on the couch, and fell asleep til 9am. So I can sleep but only when I’m not expecting to. So that must mean I have a sleep drive, right? Martin, are some people too neurotic / anxious to benefit from this method?
